A Summer Day
by Milotic
Summary: Just how I imagine Ash and Misty would spend a summer day in Pallet Town. Pointless AAML fluff. One-shot.


A Summer Day

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. I do, however, own this story.

Author's Note: Ash and Misty are already a couple in this story. Don't ask me how they got together, though, because I don't know, OK? They're a little bit older than they currently are in the anime, but not that old.

The sunlight tickled her eyelids as she sighed contently. Feeling its warm rays on her slim body caused her to smile ever so slightly; what was there not to be happy about? This was the life…

Suddenly the solid backing underneath her gave way, causing her to freefall and briefly lose her stomach. With a resounding thump she fell to the ground, knees smashing against hard rocks and forehead banging against the soft earth. Thank goodness for grass!

What had happened, though? Gathering her bearings, she shook her head in confusion, stars still present in her eyes. Suddenly she heard it: the distinct sound of laughter.

"Nice one, Mist. I guess the wind is pretty strong today," a male voice laughed heartily.

Suddenly it all made sense…

"Ash! Why would you do that?" Misty fumed.

"Do what? I didn't do anything, Misty," Ash replied.

"Yes, you did! You turned the hammock I happened to be peacefully laying in over so I would fall to the ground…and fall I did!"

"Aww, Misty, I'm just trying to have a little fun with ya!" Ash responded, pouting his lip and producing puppy dog eyes.

Misty's heart softened a little; how could it not at the look of that face? Still, her scraped knees hurt like crazy and her favorite skirt now had grass stains all over it. The anger returned.

"Look at my skirt…and look at my knees!"

Ash stared at Misty's bloodied knees; they were quite a sight to behold.

"Do you want me to kiss them to make them feel better?" Ash offered.

"Hmph," was all Misty could produce.

Ash looked at Misty and couldn't contain his laughter as he glanced at his girlfriend's dirtied, angry face; it was her hair, though, orange hair that his mother had carefully braided that had now come undone and lay plastered to her back and face, that produced the most laughter.

"Nice hair, Mist," Ash teased in a sing-song voice.

"What, my hair?" Misty frantically reached upward to feel for the braid that Mrs. Ketchum had painstakingly plaited through her thin hair, only to find it completely undone.

"It looks like your braid's kaput!" Ash answered with a smile.

"You're gonna pay for this, Ash," Misty warned. "Your mother spent all of that time carefully braiding my hair so it would look good for the Pallet Town dance tonight, and now it's all come undone and she can't fix it because she's gone to the store."

"Well, I could always fix it," Ash stated with a blush, scuffing the ground with his sneaker.

"You?" Misty laughed, glancing over at her boyfriend, who flashed her a toothy grin.

"What? You don't think I know how to braid hair? I, uh, used to braid my mother's all of the time. Besides, who else is going to do it? You admitted yourself that you can't braid your own hair," Ash argued.

Misty looked over at her Ash, who stared her down determinedly. Well, it was worth a shot, right? After all, what other option did Misty have?

* * *

"Owe, Ash, you're hurting me!" Misty whined, reaching up to swat away his hands.

"Just be patient, Misty. I'm almost done," Ash remonstrated. "Just a little more. There."

Misty grasped at her hair, trying to decide if Ash had done a good job or not.

"It, uh, doesn't feel like a braid," she said uneasily.

If Misty had turned around at that moment, she would have seen the sheepish look on Ash's face, but she chose not to.

"Well, it looks like a braid," Ash stated with conviction.

"I can't wait to see what it looks like," Misty gushed, renewed with confidence from Ash's statement. With that, she got up to run into the house and look into a mirror.

"Uh, wait!" Ash grabbed the gym leader's wrist to prevent her from entering his home.

"What's your problem, Ash?" Misty asked, annoyed.

"Uh, nothing…hehe. I just want to spend some more time out here with you in the yard. If we go inside we'll have to face that mountain of dishes Mom left for us to wash," Ash reasoned.

"We can wash the dishes later, Ash. I'll come right back out here when I'm done," Misty promised.

"Don't go in there, Misty!" Ash warned with an ever-so-serious look on his face.

"Why not?"

"Because, um, because…because Pikachu will be sleeping and you don't want to wake it up from its afternoon nap! It'll be really nasty to you if you do!"

"Since when does Pikachu take an afternoon nap?"

"Since always…" Ash replied awkwardly.

"Ash, I'm going in there to look at my hair and you can't stop me!"

Misty ran into to the house, but Ash chose to remain behind. It was safer that way.

"Three…two…one…"

As soon as Ash had finished his little countdown he heard a gut-wrenching scream, almost as if it were exactly on cue. Yup, he was in big trouble.

"Ash Ketchum, what did you do to my hair?!"

Misty came running out of the house, her eyes blazing with anger.

"Hehe, Misty, it looks like Pikachu shocked you pretty well by the looks of your hair. You must have woken it up from its afternoon nap." Ash was grinning in his most endearing, loveable way, but there was no stopping Misty's wrath this time.

"Don't play funny boy with me, Ash. Pikachu did not shock me. You did this to my hair!" Misty cried.

Boy, he really had done a number to her hair, hadn't he? It stuck out from every angle and very much resembled a Rattata' nest. It was a mess to say the least. Perhaps Ash shouldn't have told that lie about having braided his mother's hair many times before…

"Ash, how could you do this to me?" Misty cried, tears forming in her aquamarine eyes. "How can I go to the Pallet Town dance looking like this?"

"Aww, Mist, don't cry. You still look beautiful to me." This time Ash wasn't lying.

Misty looked towards Ash, expecting to see him laughing or at least grinning, but he looked dead serious.

"Really, Ash?"

"Of course, Misty. I'm lucky to have such a pretty girlfriend," Ash replied with a smile, blushing slightly.

"Oh, Ash, thank you!" Misty ran over and gave her boyfriend a big hug.

Sure, Ash had been on the receiving end of Misty's anger briefly, but it had been worth it for a hug from her. (Not only that, but he had gotten to run his hands through her lovely hair!) Anything was worth a hug from his Misty.

* * *

Ash and Misty decided not to attend the Pallet Town dance that night. A cool breeze ruffled the leaves of the Ketchum residence's many lovely trees and tussled Ash and Misty's black and auburn hair. It felt lovely, and the night was beautiful. Besides, this way they got to spend some time alone with each other.

Misty lay in the hammock once more, swaying gently back and forth. Ash, however, couldn't keep still. He ran throughout the yard, practicing his victory pose and throwing pokeballs in the coolest ways he could imagine and even cart wheeling now and then. His energy stemmed from more than mere excitement about Pokémon battles, though; he was also genuinely happy because he was with Misty, and could barely contain himself.

"Ash, relax. Take a chill pill."

"Haha, very funny, Mist. I can't help it if I'm happy, though!"

"Why are you so happy, Ash?" Misty asked, curiosity getting the best of her.

"Why wouldn't I be happy, Misty? I have you."

Misty couldn't stop the smile that lit up her face at that moment. She was happy, too.

"Come here, Ash."

Ash reluctantly walked over towards his girlfriend, still feeling as though he were going to explode from all of his pent up energy and not wanting to sit down. Misty would make it worth his while, though.

She sat up in the hammock and patted the space next to her, motioning for Ash to sit down. When he did she pulled him into a loving embrace. The couple lay quietly in the hammock, looking blissfully up at the stars.

"I love you, Ash."

"I love you, too, Misty."

Soon the couple had fallen asleep, grasping one another happily. All was well in the town of Pallet…

"Ash Ketchum!"

Ash awoke with a start.

"What is it, Misty?"

"Don't 'what is it, Misty?' me! You drooled all over me in your sleep!"

"Uh oh…"

The End

Author's Note: I told you it was little more than pointless fluff, and I was right, wasn't I? OK, so it's not my best work or anything, but I wanted to write it. You see, I've been feeling a little down over the possibility of an Ash/Aoi ship (though I think it will remain one-sided and Aoi may never even be seen again and it'll probably go the way of Abilityshipping and be completely forgotten), so I wanted to write some nice, happy, Ash and Misty fluff to cheer myself up.

I've never really been one for confession fics, but I wanted to write something in which Ash and Misty were already together, so I came up with this. I'm sorry that it's short and a one-shot and bad and everything, but I'm still waiting for the inspiration for my "epic fic." Besides, maybe I'm just better at one-shots. What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Think I'm equally bad at both one-shots and chapter fics? ;)

I hope Ash and Misty don't seem OoC. They're still young, and I can't picture them saying "I love you" every moment and kissing all of the time and calling each other by pet names. I mean, sure, they've changed a little and matured and aren't as shy around each other, which is hopefully evident in my fic, but their relationship has only begun.

Anyway, I also wanted to write something before I went away to school. If this semester is anything like last fall's semester was, I won't have much time to write fanfiction, which is a shame, but what can you do? Don't think this will be my last fic on this site, though; there's no way the obsessive compulsive in me could leave my fic count at nine! :)

Oh, is this cool or what? On my new version of Word (which I got with my new computer for my twenty-second birthday this month…yes, I'm impossibly old) it automatically corrects "Pokemon" to "Pokémon," adding the accent over the "e." It also no longer considers "Pikachu" a misspelled word. Cool, huh?

Well, good luck to everyone who's going back to school. I hope you enjoyed my fic. Don't forget to review! :)


End file.
